


Nucleus

by Solovei



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, I've barely strarted the game so there's not much of the actual canon in this, It was supposed to be a 5+1 but there's only four of them and it was late so this is all you get, Just a bunch of tired boys in a cute puppy pile, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, Noctis is a moody child, OT4, One (1) instance of Gladio swearing, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Vignette, because I can't pick ships, prompto is adorable, takes place over several nights in case it's not clear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 12:09:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14934012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solovei/pseuds/Solovei
Summary: the nights were cold, and their tent was small, and out here they only had each other





	Nucleus

**Author's Note:**

> I'm barely into this game but I had A MIGHTY NEED to write some cute fluff with these four. Set in some vague hand-wavey time, I don't know, does the plot of this game even matter? Huge huge thank you to [Midnight_Run](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnight_Run/) for their help with this fic!

Their first night camping out, they had attempted to come up with set some kind of rules to preserve everyone's personal space. 

But the nights were cold, and their tent was small, and out here they only had each other.

It only took them until the next morning to realize that it would never work out. Ignis found himself affixed squarely to Prompto's waist; Noctis was using Gladio as a pillow, and Prompto had sprawled his lanky form across both Noctis and Gladio. 

Nobody really bothered with the rules after that.

\---

Gladio should have brought more books. In his defence, he hadn't anticipated such a long trip. He's trying to ration them out by only reading in the car and for half an hour before bed, but it's been 45 minutes now and he's so close to the end of a chapter that he can't stop now. 

He's so fixated on the words that he almost doesn't see Ignis's arm reach over and click off his flashlight.

"Hey, what gives?" Gladio protests, jerking his head over in his direction. 

Ignis rolls back over onto his back beside him, hands crossed smugly over his chest. "Reading in the dark is bad for your eyes. You want to look like me when you're older?"

"I _am_ older than you, in case you forgot," Gladio grumbles, and moves to turn the light back on before the other man catches his hand in mid-air. 

"And also-- " Ignis begins, still keeping a hold on his wrist, and Gladio notices the scary glint in those green eyes even in the darkness of the tent. "That light is probably keeping everyone awake. And you know how Noctis gets if he doesn't get enough sleep."

Gladio does know. He had spent enough time in the backseat with the Prince trying to coax him to catch a quick nap in the hopes that it would fix his temper to know very well what Ignis is talking about. 

He sighs and puts the book away with his free hand. "Alright, alright. You made your point." He lets out a sigh and stretches out as much as he can. "Night, Ig-"

But it seems like Ignis is not quite finished. He all but climbs on top of Gladio, his face a mask of seriousness. "Of course, then he will get Prompto all worked up, and I will be left to deal with the two of them all day... and then I'll look over at you and make sure that you _know_ that this is your fault."

And that's when Gladio throws a pillow at his face. "Go to bed already, MOM!" He whispers with a laugh, but he doesn't do anything to push Ignis off of him.

Seeking revenge, Ignis throws the pillow back. This continues for a few moments of hushed laughter before they hear Prompto's sleepy voice, head rising a little above their Noctis' shoulder.

"Ignis, stooooop. We're trying to sleep here."

\---

Prompto blinks awake - for a split second, he wonders why it's so quiet. Where is the city noise, the one that sang him to sleep every night since he was born? But then he breathes in the air, thick with earth and green, and he remembers. His calves ache. A cramp probably woke him up. Noctis ran them up a cliff today trying to find some mysterious mountain fishing spot he heard about from an old coot at the diner. 

Blindly, he feels for his phone under his pillow and frowns at his clock app - it's the middle of the night still. Outside the safety of their tent, the calls of the monsters echo across the plains, savage and wild. He thinks about the stories he heard as a child about the daemons, about what lives beyond the walls.

Prompto is a city boy; he doesn't really do nature. But he knows someone who does.

He turns on his side, where the great mountain that is Gladio snores softly, and shakes his shoulder. 

"Hey. Gladio, hey--" he whispers urgently.

"Wassa..." comes a reply; it's unclear if Gladio heard him or not. 

"You pitched the tent really well, right? Like you're sure it's not gonna blow away and leave us all to be daemon snacks?" Prompto wonders. "Or... can they use the zipper on the front? Can they operate... zippers? Do they have thumbs?" 

"Prompto..." Gladio begins hoarsely. He reaches out an arm and brings Prompto close, all but suffocating him in his muscular chest. Prompto makes a weak noise of protest, but doesn't actually do anything about it. 

"It's fine. Go to sleep." 

He feels himself relax. The beating pace of his heart begins to slow, and he lets a breath out. This is nice. After all, Gladio is big and beefy. If a Daemon wanted to eat someone, it would probably go for him first, he thinks as he falls asleep again.

\---

Noctis cannot sleep. He should be exhausted, after hunting all day in the hot sun. He lays on his back, staring fixedly at the ceiling of their tent. He can feel Prompto's back curving against his side, and Ignis has draped an arm over his shoulders. He is, all in all, extremely comfortable, and yet sleep eludes him. He must've been laying there for at least an hour, idly watching as the gears in his brain kept turning and turning. 

Just how long can this go on for? How can he enjoy it when it any night can be the last? 

Beside him, Prompto mutters something in his sleep about steak. 

He turns his head, tries to relax enough to drift off - only to notice that something is amiss. Gladio isn't sprawled out beside him. He should've noticed him leave, since he was awake, but... had he drifted off for a second and not realized it? 

Carefully, Noctis pushes Prompto into the empty space left behind by Gladio, and steps over Ignis on his way out of the tent. The night air bites into his bare arms, any of the extra body heat he soaked up in the tent dissipating quickly now that he's alone. The fire is a dull orange glow in the darkness, and beyond it lie only the distant stars. 

In his hurry to find Gladio, Noctis has forgotten his flashlight. He peers into the darkness, trying to find a tell-tale light, or noise, or movement - but the faint glow of the runes paints most of the space around him a stark black, messing with his night vision. He doesn't want to leave the others alone either, but he knows staying here will accomplish nothing if his friend is truly missing.

"Noct?" 

The noise startles him so suddenly that he summons a dagger into his hand, spinning around to its source before seeing Gladio's sleepy face looking back at him. 

"What... what the fuck, dude. You wanna put that away?" Gladio asks, rubbing his eyes.

Noctis sighs and shakes his hand, dismissing the weapon again. "Sorry, I uh. Wanted to make sure you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere," he says in an off-handed, aloof voice that he hopes hides the worry in his voice. "I guess we don't have to worry about the daemons anymore since your snoring drove them all away." Unfortunately, Gladio sees right through it.

"I just went to the bathroom. Would you rather I'd have peed my pants, Your Highness?" Gladio quips, throwing an arm around Noctis' shoulders and poking his forehead. Noctis chuckles quietly and tries to push him off. 

"Come on, let's go back to bed. Iggy's probably worried sick about you being gone."

When they climb back into the tent, Ignis and Prompto have consolidated the empty space between them into a tangle of arms and legs, both seemingly unaware of their person's absence. Noctis lets out a sigh as he rests his head on Gladio's shoulder, closing his eyes. 

\---

Ignis wakes up with the dawn, as he always does. It doesn't matter when he had gone to bed the night before; as soon as the sun is up, so is he. Already, plans for this morning's breakfast start circling in his brain. He keeps a nearly constant mental calendar of when the prime freshness of each ingredient is, so as to avoid throwing away rotten food and to use things while they are at their most delicious.

He reaches for his glasses, pushes his sleep-tousled hair out of his face, and sits up - only to be met with a moan of protest and pulled back down. 

Ah. It's clear to see now, Noctis is clinging to his midsection like a child to a teddy bear. He can feel his hair tickling the back of his neck, in a not entirely unpleasant way. 

"Noctis. I have to go prepare breakfast."

"Mmmmno... Sta...y..." the half-asleep prince mumbles.

He knows this won't do. Noctis is bad in the morning at the best of times, but if he doesn't get his breakfast within 15 minutes of waking up, his mood plummets until at least 3 PM. For a few minutes, Ignis lays in bed, weighing the different options in front of him. He could get up, and risk waking Noctis up as a result, which itself can go one of two ways: either Noctis is moody for the rest of the day, or he is guilted into helping with cooking, and is somewhat less moody as a result. Ignis could, in theory, go back to sleep. He can't remember when he last did that, but it must have been a truly extraordinary circumstance. 

This doesn't really strike him as extraordinary. 

Carefully, he turns his head as much as he can to assess the situation. This is when he registers the quiet beeping noises of Prompto's favorite mobile game. 

"Prompto. Are you awake?" Ignis whispers.

"Mmm, yeah. Weird, right? I'm never up this early. I think I had a dream where I was a fried egg..."

"I need you to do me a favor."

Prompto puts his phone down. "Anything."

"I need you to - very carefully - crawl over Noctis and take my place here so that I may get up and make breakfast," Ignis explains.

"Roger that, Iggy!"

Ignis can't see the expert maneuvering of limbs that Prompto surely had to pull off to extricate himself from underneath Gladio, but soon enough there he is, ready to make the switch. Like a mongoose, he wedges himself in between their bodies, snuggling up to Noctis before he has a chance to miss Ignis's body heat. 

"Okay, go go!" Prompto whispers to Ignis when he's finished, pushing him out of the tent. Ignis smiles even as he ends up rolling onto the dusty rock outcropping beside the embers of their fire. The sun is up, and so is he.


End file.
